


What Has To Be Done

by invisible_slytherin



Series: How Things Should Be [1]
Category: Rise (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Break Up, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-17 11:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisible_slytherin/pseuds/invisible_slytherin
Summary: Everything about it was hard and complicated and he didn’t know how much longer he would be able to take it.Or, the one where Jeremy is tired of keeping their relationship a secret and Simon just wants him to be happy without being held back.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I write this characters and for this show and, therefore, I'm still trying to figure out their personalities and how to fit them in my writing style. I'm sorry if they're OOC, but I'm trying.
> 
> I've never been in a relationship before, so my knowledge about how to act and how to break up with someone is pretty small and comes only from books, tv shows, movies and all that jazz.
> 
> My first language isn't English and it's currently 12am here, I'm sorry for grammar inconsistencies and any typos or just weird sentences in general.

It was hard.

 

Everything about it was hard and complicated and he didn’t know how much longer he would be able to take it. 

 

He had agreed to this, he had agreed while knowing fully well what would come with it and now it seemed like everything would crumble at any moment.

 

It had seemed like the right decision at the time, it had been what he had wanted and needed - what he still wanted and needed -, and he had thought that he would be able to deal with everything that it brought with it.

 

But now that they were actually doing it, now that they were in this secret relationship, it didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. He was fed up with it, he was fed up with the stress, the weariness, the looking behind his shoulder to make sure that no one was looking, the making sure the doors were closed, the making sure he didn’t stare too long.

 

He didn’t want what they had to end, but he couldn’t deal with everything else anymore.

 

He was done and he didn’t want to be done.

 

______

 

“Simon, we need to talk.”

 

He barely recognises his voice over the grave tone in it, he doesn’t think he ever sounded like that before and maybe that’s why everyone at the table where Simon was sitting is looking at him with concerned expressions.

 

Simon looks at him, all worried eyes and anxious frown and it downs on Jeremy that he probably knows where this is going, where this conversation will take them and what there is between them.

 

Jeremy thinks he hears Simon mumble a soft okay that sounds frightened before he gets up to follow him to the greenroom.

 

And maybe Jeremy should have waited to have this conversation at another hour, the middle of the school day really isn’t the best time, maybe he should have waited until they are in another place, a more secluded private place where they can talk without the fear of being interrupted.

 

But, he can’t help but think bitterly to himself, since their relationship has based itself on fear since the beginning, it’s only fair that it ends with the same feeling surrounding them.

 

“Jeremy?” Simon calls his name in a soft voice. “What… What did you want to talk about?”

 

There’s a hesitation in his voice and Jeremy has never been surer that he knows exactly what will happen, the both of them had known for weeks that it was coming, that it was inevitable.

 

“I… I can’t do this anymore.”

 

It takes a little for Simon to react. After Jeremy talks he just stands there, looking at his feet and playing with the sleeve of his shirt, he looked like he was trying to find the right words to say and Jeremy knew that this was hard for both of them, but it had to be done, one of them had to do it and, in all honesty, it had to be him.

 

“I’m sorry,” Simon finally murmured.

 

It was as if saying that pained him; not because he didn’t want to apologize or because he thought he didn’t need to apologize, but because he knew that it was on him, that they were breaking up because of him and because of the fear that was in his heart and mind at all times, it pained him because he knew that Jeremy didn’t deserve to be put through that.

 

“Don’t apologize,” Jeremy said. “Please don’t.”

 

“I have to apologize, though, I knew from the beginning that I wasn’t ready to give you what you deserve, I should never have gone forward with this.”

 

Jeremy gulped before asking his next question.

 

“Do you regret it? What we had? Doing it?”

 

“I don’t regret doing it, I could never. I just regret that I hurt you, that I was too much of  coward to be the boyfriend you deserve.”

 

“Don’t call yourself a coward because you aren’t ready for certain things, each person needs their own time and if you’re not ready then you’re not ready and no one, including yourself, should force you to be ready.”

 

There was a small, sad smile on Simon’s face when he looked up at Jeremy. He looked as upset as Jeremy felt about the situation they were in, but there was still a fond, soft look in his eyes, the one he always got when he looked at Jeremy and everything just hurt too much.

 

“You’re so understanding, I admire you for that, have I ever told you that?” 

 

Jeremy shook his head.

 

“Well, I do. Like, right now, you’re understanding my situation, trying to get what’s going through my head and you’re not angry at me,” he chuckled in spite of himself before adding. “You should be angry at me.”

 

“Being angry wouldn’t take us anywhere.”

 

They were still standing in front of each other in the greenroom and their time was ending, the bell was about to ring and they had to have the conversion done by then, or else Jeremy didn’t think that they would be able to have it any other time; but they just seemed to postpone it, get sidetracked and avoid the reason they were there.

 

“Simon…”

 

“I guess this is the end?”

 

Jeremy didn’t answer, he didn’t need to answer for them to know and he couldn’t bring himself to spit out those words, it was painful enough already.

 

“I really like you, Simon,” he said instead and maybe it was the worst thing he could say in a moment like this but he just couldn’t stop himself. 

 

“You know I like you, too, a lot, but this isn’t fair to you and, as much as it hurts right now, I know that it’s the best decision,” Simon’s eyes were glistening a little in a way that could only mean tears. “I don’t want to hold you back and stop you from being yourself.”

 

Jeremy stepped forward and hugged him. They were breaking up, but they were both suffering, they liked each other and they were hurting, comforting each other seemed like the right thing to do.

 

The bell rang and they parted. Simon wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes then and Jeremy was sure that if they stayed in that room any longer their tears would fall way too quickly without giving them a chance to stop them.

 

“We should go,” Jeremy mumbled and stepped back. 

 

Simon just nodded sadly and Jeremy gave him one last smile before turning around and heading towards the door.

 

“Jeremy,” he heard Simon call. “Please, be yourself and don’t let anyone stop that. I want you to promise me that you will try to move on and be happy. You happy is the only thing that I want.”

 

Jeremy gulped, it was a promise he was going to keep, he would try to move on and be happy, he would try but just by looking at Simon right now he knew that it would be hard to succeed.

 

“I promise.”

 

And just like that, he was gone and they were done.


	2. Chapter 2

Jeremy was frustrated and he knew that Simon felt the same way, the look on his face every time they crossed paths said it all. It was hard to be in each other’s presence and not being able to share a private smile that hid the promise of spending some hours together as soon as they could.

 

He knew that it had been the right decision, breaking up was what was better for the both of them. For him because he didn’t deserve to have to hide his relationship and the way he felt; he didn’t deserve to be afraid and he didn’t deserve having to be extremely careful with the way he acted, to have to look over his shoulder every time they were together and watch his words. But breaking up had also been the best thing for Simon who needed to figure himself and his feelings out on his own and at his own pace, without the pressure of a relationship and another person’s feelings weighing him down and possibly rushing his discovery of himself.

 

But knowing that it had been the best decision didn’t make things easier, it didn’t mean that it hurt any less, because it didn’t. Being broken up with Simon hurt a lot and Jeremy was a mess.

 

Two weeks.

 

Two weeks of being away from each other and avoiding each other as much as they could and, despite popular opinion, things weren’t getting easier just because time was passing. On the contrary, the longing and the missing Simon were squeezing his heart more and more as the days passed.

 

He wanted Simon back, he wanted their relationship, but he didn’t want what they had, he didn’t want what wasn’t good for any of them. He wanted something new, something better and that could make them immensely happy; he just hoped that they would have the chance to have that something one day.

 

Right now, the troupe was hanging out at a café and, while they were talking and laughing there was tension in the table, maybe because the theatre program had been shut down, or because Jeremy and Simon were sitting on opposite ends of the table when they used to take advantage of time with their friends to sit close to each other and be in their personal bubble without drawing attention that Simon wasn’t ready for to them.

 

Jeremy didn’t really know how to act. He had been talking to Maashous and Michael but his eyes kept moving to Simon like magnets, and it looked like he wasn’t the only one with that problem since every time he looked over at Simon they would somehow end up making eye contact and moving their eyes to some other place at the speed of light right after, like they had been burnt. It was getting ridiculous.

 

“You and Simon have to talk, eventually,” Maashous said suddenly.

 

“It’s not that easy,” Jeremy shook his head.

 

“Why not?” Michael asked.

 

Jeremy suspected that he knew why but just didn’t want him to open up and talk to someone. He sighed, looked over at where Simon was poking his food and returned his gaze to the two boys in front of him before Simon caught his eyes like the other times.

 

“I’m afraid,” he finally confessed.

 

“You want to go outside so we can talk better?” Maashous asked.

 

Jeremy just nodded and gave the others who were at the table a small smile before leaving the café, knowing that Maashous or Michael would tell them something to explain why they were going outside. No matter what they said, though, Jeremy was pretty sure all the other would be able to see through it, his situation with Simon was something everyone at the table knew about since that had been Simon’s first move towards accepting himself and their relationship back when they had started dating.

 

“What are you afraid of?” Maashous asked Jeremy when they sat on the sidewalk outside the café.

 

Jeremy looked up at the sky trying to look for the words that would explain the feelings inside him, the mix of emotions and the pull in his heart every time he thought about Simon and their relationship.

 

“I’m afraid that I will impulsively tell him that I want him back and that it was a stupid decision to break up.”

 

“Why are you afraid of that?”

 

And Jeremy didn’t know if he liked that they were asking him everything and making him say it all or if he was mad that they were making him talk about it all so much.

 

“Because I know that breaking up was the best for us. He needs to figure things out on his own without having to think about me and our relationship, that can force him to do things before he’s ready just to please me or something, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if that happened and he doesn’t deserve that. He needs to figure things on his own, he’s the only one who can walk this road. And I don’t deserve to have to hide my relationship, as selfish as that might sound.”

 

“Do you think you’ll ever get back together?”

 

And maybe Jeremy did really like that his friends weren’t saying anything and were making him work everything out himself and sort his mind on his own accord, even though he knew that they would eventually give him advice, it was nice to work towards things himself. He appreciated that.

 

“I like him a lot, so I hope so, but I don’t know if we will, really depends on the timing of things and the situations,” he rambled, trying to make sense of all the thoughts and possibilities going through his mind.

 

“You should talk to him, tell him all that you told us about why you broke up for a start.”

 

And there was the advice.

 

“He already knows why we broke up.”

 

“Does he? Or does he think that you broke up with him only because you were tired of hiding? Because there can be a lot of misunderstanding on a breakup and people who are broken up with can feel really insecure and not see more to the thing.”

 

Jeremy gulped. He wouldn’t be surprised if Simon thought that he only broke up with him for that reason, they hadn’t really talked about how Jeremy also wanted what was best for Simon and his road to discover himself. 

 

“Simon might also need someone who he can talk to, someone who understands what he is going through and is willing to listen to him. And you don’t need to be in a relationship to do that,” Michael added.

 

And they were completely right. Jeremy hadn’t really thought about things by that perspective but now that he did he saw that Simon needed him, that they needed to talk and see things as they were, make sure that they both saw things as they were.

 

“Thank you, really, what would I do without you?” He smiled at his friends, more than grateful to have them there for him.

 

“Die of heartbreak?”

 

“Maybe, thanks for the confidence boost.”

 

And they laughed and Jeremy felt a little freer than he had before their conversation; he now knew what he had to do and he planned to do it soon and make things better. Maybe they weren’t ready to be in a relationship together, but they didn’t need to avoid each other, that obviously pained them too much, they could just be there for each other. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to only have 2 chapters but it got out of hand. It will have one more chapter (two at most since sometimes I can't control my writing).
> 
> What did you think? 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always welcomed.


	3. Chapter 3

Who would have thought that breaking up with someone would hurt so much?

 

It’s not that he didn’t know that the situation is always hard, he has read enough books and has watched enough movies and tv shows to know that it would be complicated to get past, but nothing could have prepared him to the pain and the sadness that came with it, he never thought that it was quite as powerful.

 

Simon understood why Jeremy had broken up with him and he agreed with him; he knew that it really wasn’t fair to Jeremy to be held back from being himself and acting upon his feelings whenever he felt like it just because he was in a relationship with someone who wasn’t ready to get to that level.

 

But it still hurt. So, so much.

 

He missed Jeremy, he missed the time they spent together, away from prying eyes, just the two of them. He missed the moments when he got to be himself without fear, when he got to be himself and have comforting arms around him.

 

And that was exactly the problem, he wanted back what they had, but he didn’t know if he could do more, if he could take the risk and start doing things publically; telling the troupe had already been hard enough.

 

So, he accepted their break up, he was incredible sorrowful because of it, but he wanted what was best for Jeremy and a closeted relationship was not what Jeremy deserved, far from it.

 

Jeremy deserved someone who held his hand when they walked down the street together, he deserved someone that would hug him in the middle of the school hallway when he had had a bad grade and needed to be comforted, he deserved someone who kissed his cheek before every class, someone who cherished him without any issues and doubts and reservations. Jeremy deserved all of that and more, so much more, and, although Simon liked him in a way that couldn’t even be explained in words, he knew that he couldn’t give it to him, at least not yet. 

 

He had to let Jeremy go, let him live his life like he should be living it and not hold him back.

 

That’s why Simon accepted their breakup and why he had made Jeremy make that promise back when they had had the cursed talk.

 

Every time Simon laid his eyes on Jeremy his heart broke a little bit more inside, it took everything in him not to let his feet carry him to where the other boy was and just wrap him in his arms, breathe in his scent, feel his skin and his hands on his fingertips; but he couldn’t do that.

 

Why was everything so hard and unfair?

 

It was Monday and the last class of the day had just finished, Simon felt like a phantom walking through the school hallway, much like the previous few weeks. It had been three weeks since Jeremy and he had broken up and it wasn’t getting any easier, time passing just deepened the hole in his heart. 

 

“Simon, can we talk?” He heard behind him while he was taking his books from his locker.

 

He turned around, already knowing who his eyes would meet and preparing himself to look into the eyes and took everything from him and gave everything to him. And there Jeremy was, standing right in front of him, making eye contact and acknowledging each others presence or the first time in three weeks. Simon felt his breath catch in his throat. Jeremy.

 

“I… Yeah,” he finally answered.

 

Jeremy gave him a small tense smile and motioned for Simon to follow him outside the school. The other boy led him to his car and they told him to get in so that they could go somewhere where they could be in private. Simon felt his heart clench because the running away from school situation reminded him of why everything had fallen apart and maybe the circumstances and the scene were different now but it still felt like hiding and it tasted bittersweet.

 

“I wanted to talk to you about our break up,” Jeremy broke the silence that had settled between them while he drove.

 

Simon didn’t know how to answer to that, which words could he use to show that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to have this conversation? Which words could he use to show that he was nervous and even slightly scared about what could come out of it? So, he simply mumbled a small ‘okay’, hoping that Jeremy would pick up the conversation.

 

“I wanted to make some things clear.” Jeremy took one hand away from the steering wheel to run it through his hair like he usually did when he was nervous. “Some things that I might not have explained correctly.”

 

“And… What are those things?”

 

Everything about their speech and their hesitation showed just how unsure about how to act they were, both of them wanted to do one thing, but their common sense and brain were telling them that that wasn’t the right way to go, and they didn’t really know how to act with each other.

 

“Simon, why do you think we broke up?”

 

Simon hadn’t been expecting that question. He had thought that it had been clear since the beginning of the end way they had broken up, hadn’t that been the point of everything? He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the boy who was still driving.

 

“What?”

 

“Just answer the question, please.”

 

Jeremy had his eyes on the road but the way he was biting his lip and tapping some rhythm with his fingertips on the steering wheel showed that he was serious and anxious to know the answer to the question he had asked for reasons that still confused Simon.

 

“We broke up because it wouldn’t be fair to you to have to hide the way you felt.”

 

Jeremy took a sharp intake of breath and swore under his breath.

 

“That’s what I feared.”

 

He parked the car and turned to look at Simon who was currently looking down at his hands, trying to will his heart to stop beating so fast and his stomach to stop making nervous backflips.

 

“That was one of the reasons I broke it up, but it was not the only one; it was not the main one,” Jeremy started.

 

Simon brought his hand up to his mouth, nail catching between his teeth like it always did when he was anxious. However, his hand was softly grabbed and brought down to rest on his leg, stopping his teeth for torturing his nail any more, Jeremy squeezed it carefully before letting go.

 

“Simon, can you look at me?”

 

Simon took a deep breath before doing what Jeremy asked him to, eyes meeting Jeremy’s soft but determined gaze.

 

“I broke us up because it wouldn’t be fair to me, but also because it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

 

“How so?” Simon asked, genuinely confused.

 

“You need to discover yourself and your limits at your own accord, you need to come to terms with everything at your own time and being in a relationship could make you rush things. I don’t want that for you, Simon, I want you to be completely comfortable with things before you do them, I want you to be yourself and to show yourself when you’re ready. Without any pressure of having my feelings to think about. This is about you, Simon, this is your thing and it wouldn’t be fair to have something that could pressure you. You don’t deserve that.”

 

“I don’t think our relationship would have made me rush anything, Jeremy.”

 

“Maybe so, but I wasn’t about to take any chances when it comes to you and your happiness on the long run.”

 

It was the nicest, sweetest thing anyone had ever done for Simon. It made him see just how good of a person Jeremy was, he was incredible, so kind and sweet and he deserved everything good; there surely weren’t many people in the world that could come to Jeremy. Simon was sure that he was looking at Jeremy in some sort of starstruck way, but he couldn’t even bring himself to care because Jeremy deserved to be looked at in a starstruck way,

 

“Jeremy…”

 

“You had never thought about it this way, had you?”

 

Simon just shook his head an willed his brain to work and take him back to the times when he was considering their relationship and their future. And maybe Jeremy was right, maybe being in a relationship could have lead Simon to a rushed decision, because while he was thinking he couldn’t remember many times when he had thought about coming out for himself, he could mostly remember times when he had thought about coming out for their relationship; and that was not okay.

 

“I guess you’re right.”

 

Jeremy just smiled sadly and sighed, he looked at Simon with a thoughtful look and then opened his mouth to talk.

 

“I want to be here for you. I want us to stop avoiding each other, even if it’s hard at the beginning, and I want you to come to talk to me if you want to get things off your chest or if you need advice. It was selfish of me to leave you when you needed me the most.”

 

“You’re anything but selfish, Jer,” Simon breathed out. “And I would also like for those things to happen. I would really like that.”

 

“Friends?”

 

“Friends.”

 

With a last smile at Simon, Jeremy turned back to the road and started the car, ready to take Simon to the school where he had left his car. 

 

And, after the conversation, both boys felt much lighter.

 

Although they knew that things would keep being hard and slightly strained, they also knew that it would all be much better now. They didn’t have the weight of a break up to crush their hearts, they had had a conversation that had been able to settle their minds and let them come to terms with letting the person they cared about with everything they had go, for the benefit of the both of them on the long run, and that made things more clear and easier to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one should believe the limits I set for my fics, I'm always wrong.
> 
> Next chapter will (hopefully) be less angsty and more fluffy.


	4. Chapter 4

Simon had never talked much about his feelings before, except for an emotional conversation after the play with his mother and a deep conversation with Lilette after Jeremy and he had started dating he didn’t really remember any other feelings-filled conversations. He had never liked talking about feelings, it seemed to leave him exhausted just thinking about what was going on inside his head and heart and he didn’t really feel comfortable with anyone knowing what he was feeling, as much as he trusted that person.

 

However, Simon knew that bottling things inside was never good and that he should find someone he was comfortable with to talk about his thoughts and emotions, but he had never found that person, because as much as he loved and trusted his mother, his sister and Lilette, they were simply not the right person to talk about some things with.

 

He had never found the right person until now.

 

At first, talking to Jeremy had been overwhelming. They had spent the first time they met up to talk in Jeremy’s room awkwardly looking at the walls and avoiding eye contact; Simon hadn’t known how to talk about his feelings, how to spill his guts and, frankly, at the time he still didn’t feel like he should be doing it, it felt wrong and it scared him, and Jeremy had been patiently silent because he knew that only Simon could take the first step. So, they didn’t talk and it had been exhausting to just sit in silence and drown in uncomfortableness and awkwardness for an hour.

 

The second time they met up, this time at the park, they actually talked, yet not about feelings. They talked about music, theatre and school, they strayed from difficult topics and kept conversation light; they had understood that diving right into serious stuff after breaking up and deciding to stay friends was not the right route to follow.

 

The talks they have only started getting more serious after two weeks of meeting up and talking about trivial things, two weeks of getting to know each other even better than when they were dating, two weeks of building up trust.

 

Their first serious talk hadn’t been too heavy, they had talked about their friends, about the troupe and their other classmates (they still wondered if they should consider that as a serious talk or not). They had known how they had met their best friends because that topic had come up at one point when they were dating, but this time it had been different, they had gone deeper and talked about why they trusted some and didn’t really like others, why they wanted to get to know others better and why they would love to see some of them transferring to another school. Sounding bitter or childish didn’t stop them because, in the end, that was what they were feeling and these meetups were exactly to make sure they got things off their chests.

 

If that talk, even if serious and heavy with feelings, had still had a certain light side to it, the second time feelings had come up had been kind of forced on them.

 

It was a Thursday evening when Jeremy’s dinner with his family was interrupted by the doorbell. Now, the Travers family isn’t used to have guests at that time of the day so the bell ringing had come as a surprise. Jeremy looked at his mother and seeing her shrugging got up to open the door. He was even more surprised when he saw Simon on the other side.

 

“Simon?” Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I’m sorry I came so late, but I couldn’t stay home. I was going to go to Lilette’s but she had a late shift and, although I love her, there are things that I feel more comfortable talking about with you, for some reason. And there was a part of me that kept telling me to come here because I had to see you and I don’t even understand why and just can you please let me in so that I can stop rambling like an idiot?”

 

Jeremy stepped back to let Simon into the house and closed the door behind him before turning to the boy who stood shyly in front of him.

 

“It’s okay, I don’t mind that you came here,” he smiled reassuringly. “Have you eaten dinner or do you wanna sit with us?”

 

“I’m fine,” Simon assured and added when he saw Jeremy looking at him with a concerned expression. “Really. I already had dinner and I just needed to talk.”

 

“You don’t look fine, Simon, you can’t lie to me when it comes to that. I know you,” he sighed. “You can go to my room, I’m just gonna tell my parents what happened and that I’ll be in my room.”

 

Simon nodded and went upstairs, leaving Jeremy looking after him with a heavy heart and worried face.

 

“Jeremy, honey, everything okay?” His mother asked when he went to the kitchen again.

 

“I’m not sure,” he shrugged. “That was Simon, he’s upset about something, can I go and talk to him?”

 

“Don’t you want to finish your dinner first?”

 

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m fine, I was almost finished anyway.”

 

“Then go and see if Simon needs anything. Don’t leave him waiting if he needs you,” she told him with a soft smile.

 

Jeremy nodded and rushed out of the kitchen and upstairs to his room. Simon was sitting on the edge of his bed, elbows resting on his knees and head on his hands; he looked distressed and Jeremy’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest at the sight.

 

“I shouldn’t be feeling like this,” Simon broke the silence. “It’s not like it’s something new that I’m not used to.”

 

Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows and sat next to him on the bed, giving him all his attention and trying to find a way to comfort him like he needed to be comforted.

 

“What happened?” Jeremy asked softly.

 

“My father made some comments at dinner. I made the mistake of telling them that I’ve been hanging out with you, I should’ve already known that it wouldn’t turn out nicely, I know how he is and how he feels about everything that can translate into my feelings for someone he doesn’t approve of.”

 

“You should not have to be used to that. It’s not fair that you can’t even talk about your day with your parents without being wary of every word and sentence; it’s not fair that you have to be scared of showing what you feel.”

 

Simon groaned and let his body fall back on the bed so that he was laying down and looking at the ceiling.

 

“I’m tired.”

 

“You can sle-”

 

Simon laughed a little, interrupting him.

 

“Not that kind of tired.”

 

“Oh,” Jeremy blushed and laid on the bed next to Simon, head turned to him.

 

“What are you tired of?”

 

“Hiding. I’m tired of letting my father and his prejudice and fear control me and what I do. I’m tired of being afraid of my feelings and of trying to lock them away,” he turned his head to look Jeremy in the eyes. “I’m tired of pretending that I don’t like you.”

 

Jeremy felt his eyes widen. He wasn’t expecting that, but he would be lying if he said that hearing Simon say that didn’t fill him with happiness.

 

“What are you trying to say?” He asked, no louder than a whisper.

 

“I’m trying to say that, as cliché as it sounds, I think we are meant to be but we did things wrong. Now, we have two options, either accept that it didn’t work and let it go or try again and, this time, do things right. I want to do things right; I’m ready to do things right.”

 

“Simon,” he breathed. “Are you sure?”

 

“More than sure,” his hand found Jeremy’s between their bodies and their fingers intertwined.

 

“Let’s take things slow, do things right. Do what feels right,” Jeremy nodded, a smile stretching across his face.

 

“No hiding,” Simon whispered before closing the distance between their faces and lips.

 

And Simon was right, it felt as if they were really meant to be, everything fit together and, when they parted, their eyes were sparkling with happiness and the prospect of what was to come for them from now on.

 

It would be better than ever.

 

It would be perfect.

 

It would be them.

 

They were ready and they weren't afraid.

 

This time they would do things right, like they should be done, like they needed to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not how I planned to end this fic, it was supposed to be more fluffy, but then my favourite band released tour dates and to no one's surprise they aren't coming to my country and so I was feeling bitter and angsty.
> 
> Anyway, they are together because Simon and Jeremy deserve to be happy and because I can't bear the thought of sad endings, I mean fanfic is supposed to make us happy and let us live in a perfect world for a bit, I don't do sad endings.
> 
> Since this fic didn't end how I planned and I really liked the plan of how it would end, I think I will write a one-shot (or more because I can never control what I write) with that ending, as the second part of this fic, a glimpse into how their relationship would progress.
> 
> Would you want that?
> 
> Thanks for the comments and kudos in this work, they mean a lot. Hope you liked this and it didn't disappoint.
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://classy5-sos.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> I would be happy to get suggestions on how to improve writing in general and this characters in particular; anything particularly OOC that I should change?
> 
> Comments and kudos are always welcomed.


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